Harriet Motive to Know Her Brodher’s Killer
The little Friend is set in the fictional community of Alexandria, Mississippi, which is similar to the two communities in which the author
lived as a child, Greenwood and Grenada, Missisippi. It tells about a mysterious adventure, centered on a young girl,
Harriet Cleve Dufresness. She is living in Mississippi in the early 1970s. She lives with her sister Allison and her mother Charlotte. Because of she
was smart, before she was a year old. Though she’d been less than six months old when Robin died, Harriet said she could remember him. Harriet
always nightmares it was always dark, Sometimes Harriet saw the door opening but she always woke up before she saw a face.
One day, she felt worried about unexplained death of her brother, Robin, who was found hanging from a tree in his parents’ yard in 1964 at
the age of nine. Twelve years later Robin’s murder is still unsolved and his family
remains devastated. So it is that Robin’s sister, Harriet, tries to set out to unmask his killer. Harriet decides to take on her friend, Hely, to help her
to find who killed her brother, Robin. Harriet decides one day that she must find out what really happened to Robin and who is responsible for it.
She gets a clue when the housekeeper, Ida Rhew , she tells her that a boy named Danny Ratliff had fought with Robin shortly before his death.
The Ratliffs are a notorious family in the area who are known for stealing and dealing drugs. Harriet is convinced that Danny must be
responsible, so she recruits her only friend, Hely, a boy two years younger
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than her, and begins investigation. Harriet and Hely spy on the Danny and sneak into Eugene’s apartment. Before they escape, they release several
snakes and are seen by the brothers. Harriet continues to follow Danny until she knowswho killed her brother.
She tried to find out evidence the death of her brother. Strong-willed and smart, she also decides she want to bring Danny to justice but the
murderer was never identified or caught. So Harriet is difficult to bring Danny to justice.
To understand the case, this study will explore about the character and characterization to reveal the actions of the main character in the novel
The Little Friend. It also intends to find out what kind of effect that the characters get after doing the action. This novel is chosen because it
carries much of meaningful of life knowledge.